Daisy Rodriguez

She lives with her father and her stepmother, her mother died when she was 11, she is currently 19 (January 23, 2007).
Found out about Mi Esperanza through another member of her church (IGLESIA DE CRISTO en San Jose de La Vega) She says that the program has benefited her in many ways, one of which being that because she learned how to make clothing in the Mi Esperanza Sewing program, she is able to make clothes that she sells. The revenue she earns from the clothing she sells helps her pay for her school and her materials for school. She will graduate from the INSTITUTO SUPERACION SAN FRANSISCO in November of 2008 in bookkeeping and commerce. She took a break in her studies at the INSTITUTO to take the courses (Corte y Confeccion I y II) in Mi Esperanza (2004 y 2005) and she is happy that she did because she learned the skill that has allowed her to pay for her studies in Commerce (she decided to stop in the college to take the course because she wanted to take advantage of the course). She says that the program has helped her and that there is nothing she would change or improve to the Mi Esperanza Sewing Course She also says that she considers that Mi Esperanza would continue to be there for her should she need anything in her professional or personal life. She has more confidence in approaching others and in expressing her needs in life…she is less “timid” in her approach to life. The PSC has helped her become more self assured and has taught her the organizational skills to set and achieve goals. She is going to begin recruiting women in her neighborhood to come here and study with us. What are her dreams for her life? Have a university degree, work in her field, live comfortably, have her own house, It is unusual to find a young woman like Daisy who has her priorities in order- have her life first before having a husband and family…

Success Continues with jobs for the women

Edith Andino owns a business that makes curtains and linens for private customers here in Tegucigalpa. She has hired two of our ladies, Sarah and Sesia, to work for her full time. Edith told Mi Esperanza that she was so happy to have found Mi Esperanza because the superior quality of sewing work and the high work ethic of our women has greatly improved her business. She mentioned that the Mi Esperanza graduates worked even better than her regular seamstresses. Her business is growing because of Cecilia's, Sarah's and Sesia's work and she expects to hire more Mi Esperanza graduates in 2007.
The women are working in lovely conditions in a very safe
neighborhood in an area of Edith's house that she has made into her
workshop. Edith and her daughter Giselle are providing a very safe and
comfortable working environment for the women and they seem very pleased.

Emelina

Another of our beauty class students just got a job after completion of their training and through help of the Mi Esperanza staff.
Emelina, the student that "managed" the beauty days over the summer, for the mission teams that came to visit the Mi Esperanza Training center is now
working at the Maine Salon here in Tegucigalpa.
The Mi Esperanza staff brought her over to Ivonne's Salon to interview, and although they really liked her, they did not have a position open. So they sent her over to the Maine Salon, where they hired her immediately. Saturday will be one week for her working at her first job, EVER. We spoke to Emelina tonight and she was even happier that she had gotten the job at Maine's because her commute to the Maine Salon requires only one bus and 30 minutes, whereas the commute to Ivonne's was 2 busses (more bus fare) and 1 hour 15 minutes. She is absolutely thrilled . . . and so are we.

Uniform Delivery Day

The Mi Esperanza sewing co-op received and completed it's first school uniform order. It was an order of 57 uniforms, 114 pieces. The women worked hard and delivered the product on time. The uniforms were made for children in a community called Via Oriental...a very poor community where many children do not attend school because their families cannot afford the cost of a uniform. The order was placed by the IRC cooprotation, in effort to help get more of the communities children to school. Our women helped to deliver the uniforms with an IRC employee, Gina Larios. This experience was very impactful for our women by putting faces with their work. They gained much pride in this project knowing their new skill and job can not only serve them but also serve others in need. The are able to have a part in the work of helping their own people, what a wonderful thing.

Sewing Co-op Success Stories

The Mi Espernaza Sewing Co-op program is a huge success! They have been in full swing of production since June 2006.
The women involved in the co-op are all Mi Esperanza graduates and now partners with Mi Espernanza. They are now responsible for the production of all Mi Esperana Textile products. They are creating our very popular GYPSY BAGS, our Original Handbag & The Spa Bag. The success of these products has been phenominal!!! We can not keep them on the shelves!!!
Mi Esperanza Bags are now being carried in several retails stores...

Waves of Art, Roaton: Honduras
Bahia Fine Art Craft @ the Marriott: Tegucigalpa, Honduras
The Cut Off Salon and Day Spa: North Conway, NH



We are so proud of our women and let me tell you what this means to them. The women who make our products earn an above average wage for their work and are making a living for themselves and their families. These women are making more than they ever have in their lives! For some the first job ever!! They now have a skill that they can use and use well. They are taking proud ownership in the work and being part of the organization that has changed their lives.
Thank you for your suport of our products.. To see our products go to the participate tab on this site!

Meet Liz

It is often hard to believe when you see the pictures of our graduates that they are among the same women we see in poverty stricken villages around Tegucigalpa. Our women come so far!!!

Liz came to us for the opportunity to train in our salon program. She was a eager student and learned the material quickly and with excellence. When she graduated she was hired by one of the top salon in the city "Yvonnes". She continued to work there, with high praise form the owner, until she left to move on to a new job at Credomatic, a banking company. The skills she learned through her training and the personal skills class unabled Liz to enter the work community.
Another Mi Esperanze success story!

Meet Karina and Marcia

Meet Karina and Marcia. They are both students in the Mi Esperanza Sewing
Class in Mateo. They have both learned how to make full suits, skirts, and
jackets in our course. The quality of their sewing is outstanding for
having only 4 months behind the sewing machines. Karina, timid, shy AND
determined, walks one hour to get to the classroom AFTER being dropped off
by the bus, then she repeats the hour walking after class to reach the bus
that will carry her home. Marcia is an outspoken, lively woman that proudly
shows her first suit to us as soon as we ask her to show us her favorite
pieces.
As you can see from these to women Mi Esperanza helps to educate the young and well as older women and women of all personalities. Our goal to to help each women reach her individual potential
Marcia


Karina

Cynthia

Meet Cynthia. Cynthia is another Mi Esperanza success story! She came to us from a local village to enter our computer training class. Cynthia first attended our personal skills class that is a requirement for all our participants. In this class the women learn about the work enviroment, interviewing for a job and what an employer will expext once they are hired.
Cynthia showed great promise from the first day of class. She as eager to learn and wanted to make the most of her opportunity. Soon after she began the computer class she was given the opportunity to interview for a local shop that sells Honduran art craft. Cynthia was hired and with her pesonal skills training and the basic computer she learned she is a great employee for the shop owner. Cynthia is very happy in her job and thankful for the oportunities that Mi Espernaza gave her!

Founder Profile/Lori Connell

Lori and Marta a Mi Esperanza participant

Lori began her love for the country and people of Honduras in 1999, that is when she took part in her first mission trip. She immediately was struck by the hardship and distress the women in the communties live. She knew that there had to be something more that could be done, something that would change the future of the women and their children and stabilize their lives. Since then Mi Espernaza has been a passion and labor of love for Lori. During the months of May-September Lori lives in Honduras with her husband Mark. During that time she works with the training and loan programs, summer interns and future program development.
Lori and her husband Mark have two married children and a dog named Experanza. They live in Birmingham, Alabama.

Founder Profile/Janet Hines

Janet the sewing student graduate


Janet's passion for the women of Honduras is clear as you watch her work with the Mi Esperanza Program. Janet's connection to the women and their struggle to care for their families is a driving force in her commitment to this program.
Janet is married to Doug Hines and lives in Mandeville, LA. She has 4 children and 2 grandchildren who are all invloved in the work in Honduras in various forms.
Janet is the Executive Director/US for the Mi Esperanza Program. Janet oversees state side fundraising, development of promotional material, grant writing and the development of The Women of My Hope groups all over the US. Janet is very involved in the growth and development of all of Mi Esperanza programs. Janet represents Mi Esperanza as she sits on the board of directors for the IRC Corporation, the parent organizations to Mi Esperanza.
Recently Janet has been very involved in hurricane relief work in the New Orleans area where she helped organize her church into a a relief center.

Founder Profile

Gena with one of her Graduating Classes

Gena Hines is a founder and instructor for the Mi Esperanza Proram. Gena has been living in Honduras with her husband Tim and two boys Dylan and Dalton for the past several years. Gena is also very involved with the work of Torch Missions in which her husband is president. Torch Missions is Mi Esperanza's brother ministry that builds houses, churches and provides medical, food, clothing to the poorest communities in Tegucigalpa and surrounding areas.
As an instructor Gena teaches our Salon Training Class. Salon training is one of our longest running training classes which began in a community church built by Torch where Gena did not have running water or electricity. Gena designed salon training classroom at the Mi Esperanza Training Facility. She transformed a basic room into a small salon so that her students could learn in a life like enviroment. She teaches 5 students at a time to give them individual attention.
Gena is a great asset to the program as she brings much energy and excitiment to the classes she teaches.

Extreme Makeover Honduras

This summer the Mi Esperanza Team took on an extreme makeover project. While working in the community of San Miguel they came across a very special family of 6 children that are on their own. There are 4 boys and 2 girls. They have no parents, their mother died in December and their father left years ago. They are supported by the 18 year old brother, Mariano. They lived in a 8 year old Torch house that was built for their mother soon after the father left. The youngest Melvin, stole the heart of Mi Esperanza founder, Lori Connell and she began looking into what the family needed. What she found was they needed repairs to the exisiting structure that was suffering major termite damage and they also needed more space, so the idea for the makeover took shape with the assistance of the Mi Esperanza interns.
The Mi Esperanza team repaired the old house, added a wood floor and new roof to the old structure, built a new addition, built beds and provided mattresses for all the children, built shelves, a table and benches for eating and painted both structures inside and out. It was a four day project.
The family now has a home that fits their need of space and all the repairs to keep their old house standing and usable.
It was a great summer project and one that will be a blessing to this family of children for years to come.

Katia Hernandez

Katia is a wife and mother. She has 2 boys and lives in Los Pinos a community where Mi Esperanza and Torch have had much involvment. Last summer Katia came to us wanting to start her own business. She wanted to roast peanuts and sell them. After an interview with Katia we accepted her application and issued her loan. Katia and her husband run their small business from their home. They purchased a small peanut roaster and raw peanuts and their business was under way. The roaster they use is turned over open flame and then the peanuts are hand sorted and bagged for sale.
Katia has had very little formal education and this summer the Mi Esperanza interns are working with her so that she will better understand the concepts in managing her money. Katia has much potential and we want to giver her every advantage to succeed in her business.

Maria Cecilia Osorto

Cecila is a pioneer of the Mi Esperanza organization. She first came to Mi Esperanza through co-founder Janet Hines. Here is what Janet had to say about Cecilia. "I have known Cecilia since the fall of 99 when I went to Honduras and spent 3 weeks and taught english at Baxter Institute and a quilting class. Cecilia was one of the best students in the class. She really excelled. A year later, she came to me and asked me if I could make a loan to her of about $1500. She had been taking classes and had become an instructor certified by the government. It was her dream to build a room on to her house that would become a classroom where she could teach others. I did that and she has been teaching classes ever since. It has probably been almost five years. About two years ago, she came to me again and told me about a group of women who wanted to learn, but didn't have the money for the tuition, we worked it out so that Mi Esperanza paid their tuition. We have done that several times. They are a good group of women. She has taught them to make projects that they can sell in their communities. Cecilia also is our instructor at the Mi Esperanza training facility. Her vision is as clear as ours and sometimes clearer when it comes to Mi Esperanza. She approached us this past January with a desire to begin a satellite class out of the city in the village of Mateo. She is currently teaching 3 classes a day for Mi Esperanza.
She is married and has three sons. Her husband is a mechanic and has a shop attached to their home."
Cecilia and her advanced students are currently working on a sewing project that will be used as a Mi Esperanza fundraiser this summer. We look forward to years ahead with Cecilia as part as Mi Esperanza.

Ailica Ordoñez Amador

Ailica started out with her husband living in one room. She "jokingly" said that life was almost easier then because she only had to turn around in order to serve him dinner, on the bed no less. Eventually, with a lot of hard work, they were able to move to a wooden home with 2 rooms. She now lives in a concrete house with her husband and 5 children. She started selling clothing, underclothing and small items in order to make money. She is a graduate of Mi Esperanza's Clase de Estetica y Belleza and now feels confident in her professional skills as an esthetician. She said that she hopes to eventually build her own salon on her property (it sounds like she has a little space to one side to add on) in order to sustain herself and her family even further while also owning her own business. The Mi Esperanza program gave her the training to do the hair cutting and styling, manicures and pedicures that she would need to offer to her clients. It also gave her more knowledge on how to run her small business. She agreed that she will need more practice before opening her own salon, but she is much closer already to attaining her goal and fulfilling her dream. Hers is a story of the true fight that people have here, going from having absolutely nothing, to having a home and working towards having their own business, and knowing that they will succeed. There is a huge difference in these types of people, like Alicia, because they have truly turned despair into energy, hope and achievement. You can see it in their eyes.

Maria Rafaela Salazar Espinal

Maria Rafaela Salazar Espinal is another Mi Esperanza success story. Maria lives in the village of Los Pinos. She is married and has 3 daughters. Maria is happily married, her husband works hard but has an illness that has kept him from consistent work over the years. Maria is a member of the local church and we first met Maria through the work of Torch Missions when Maria and her family were living with Maria's mother. They had a piece of land but were having trouble saving money to build their own home. Last summer Mark Connell's Torch group was able to build them a concrete block house. Last spring Maria began training at the Mi Espernaza house as part of our sewing class. Maria wanted to gain a skill she would be able to use to help her family with consistant income. Maria quickly rose to the top of the class as one of our best students. She was eager to learn and was always in class. In January Maria graduated with her class and because of her skill and ability was asked to stay on and take a second level of training. Maria is very grateful for the opportunities Mi Esperanza has given her and many women of "low levels of opportunity". She is particularly grateful for what these opportunities will mean to her girls. We are so proud of Maria and are excited to see what the furture holds for Maria!

Maria “The Tortilla Lady”

Maria “The Tortilla Lady” is a story of hope (Maria is featured as this pages cover picture). Maria was one of the first six loan recipients in 2002. When she came to us she had a small tortilla business she wanted to expand. She was making 200 tortillas a day and selling them for a couple of dollars a day. With her first loan from the Mi Esperanza program, she expanded her business and has continued to expand her business ever since. Maria now makes 2500 tortillas a day and has built a room onto her home with a large adobe oven to cook her tortillas. She begins at 6am each morning cooking and then travels during the late morning to stores that buy her tortillas. In 2003 Maria opened a small Pulperia (store) in her home and in 2004 Maria hired an employee for her tortilla business. Maria now makes $25 a day, which is comparable to most doctors in the country.